Lighting costs in a typical home can account for about one-fifth of the household's energy consumption. To reduce this consumption, and its associated costs, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) can be used to replace the more traditional incandescent lamp. CFLs can have a slow startup time to produce full lumen output.
Bright-From-The-Start (BFTS) CFLs can include a halogen light source in addition to the primary compact fluorescent tube within the CFL. The halogen light source can produce a sufficient amount of light from the beginning of the CFL operation. When the CFL is energized, the halogen light source produces maximum light output, which compensates for the low lumen output of the CFL during its startup period.
However, the halogen light source requires more power than the CFL light source, and typically has a shorter lifetime than the CFL light source. Conventional BFTS CFLs that include a halogen light source turn the halogen light source off after a predetermined time. The sudden lumen shift of the halogen light source from one-hundred percent to zero-percent light output can be significantly perceptible and sometimes becomes quite annoying for the human eye. The higher the wattage of the halogen light source, the more perceptible the lumen shift can be.